Transport manager banned after ignoring abnormal load safety measures

Essex police said an abnormal load officer and its commercial vehicle unit (CVU) had worked with a haulage firm’s transport manager to plan the movement of the load last year.

A dispensation was granted for the company to transport steel tubes measuring up to 50m long under self escort.

This was subject to additional safety measures being undertaken by the company, designed to keep roads safe as well as providing the haulier flexibility and a significant cost saving by not having to pay for police escorts.

However, in December 2022, an abnormal load was witnessed by two roads policing officers travelling along the M25 without any of the extra safeguards in place.

Enquiries showed that the company had undertaken six movements in the preceding days, all of which breached the dispensation.

A prosecution against the transport manager resulted in him admitting the breaches at magistrates’ court and he was fined £5,800 for permitting overweight vehicles to use the road network.

The case was then passed to the traffic commissioner and at a public inquiry earlier this month, the transport manager was banned for life from holding a similar position for any other haulage company and he was dismissed from his company role.

Sergeant Jason Dearsley, who heads up the CVU, said: “The underlying principle of everything that we do is safety - to keep all road users safe.

Where there is a blatant disregard for the law that puts people at risk, we won’t hesitate to enforce the law.

“Essex Police’s commercial vehicle unit are committed to engaging positively with hauliers and drivers to help keep their businesses running, but it’s unacceptable to simply ignore a dispensation set up together to support a company as well as protect the road users of our county.”

A police spokeswoman told motortransport.co.uk it was not releasing the name of the transport manager or the haulage firm until the public inquiry decision was published.